Go Ahead, Make My Month

Clint Eastwood could make staying in the city in July seem like the smarter choice.
At least some of us were feeling better about being here after reading the lineup of films that are part of “The Complete Clint Eastwood,” a comprehensive series at The Film Society of Lincoln Center. It turns out that the Walter Reade Theater is playing host to all the films that Eastwood has directed (at least so far), starting last week and continuing through July 27.
I hopped onto my beloved M5 bus and went downtown a couple of hours ago to catch “Play Misty for Me,” which was the first movie that Eastwood directed and is basically an earlier version of “Fatal Attraction.”
This time around Jessica Walter got to play the crazy broad who mistook sex for love. Eastwood cares more for Donna Mills, although it’s hard to see why in this particular context. There are some fine performances by supporting players in the movie, which holds up during the scary parts as decent popular entertainment. The movie, though, is most interesting in the way it represents interests Eastwood would explore in different ways in the years to come, like music and how music plays, literally and figuratively, in the movies. It’s also fascinating to see that two of the African-American actors in the movie, playing smaller roles, seem more three-dimensional in their performances than Eastwood or Mills do in leading parts.
There’s lots more coming. I’m interested to see if “Unforgiven” from 1992 was as good as I thought it was back then. I remember believing it really deserved the Best Picture Oscar that the movie nabbed. Others worth investigating: “A Perfect World” on July 20 and “Million Dollar Baby” on July 25 and “The Bridges of Madison County” on July 21. In the latter, Meryl Streep gives a great performance. Which is not exactly breaking news.
It’s good to have Eastwood’s films on view, especially in such a comprehensive way and in such a respected forum. He’s been such a pop culture icon for so long that it’s sometimes easy to forget that he’s a filmmaker with such a stellar record.